Nomination papers for this year’s general election will be available next Monday at the Election Office in Tafuna and voters this year will go to the polls on Nov. 4 to elect their Delegate to the U.S. House and 20 members of the local House of Representatives.

Also on the ballot in this year’s election is a referendum to an amendment to the local Constitution, which will give the Fono the authority to override a veto by the governor, instead of the U.S. Secretary of Interior, which is the current provision of the constitution.

In a media statement yesterday, Chief Election Officer Tuaolo M.F. Fruean announced that candidate nomination petitions and materials for the 2014 General Election will be available for pick up beginning June 30.

Tuaolo says the early release of candidate forms and materials should provide ample time for candidates to file their candidacy papers. The deadline for filing those papers is Sept. 2, 2014 at 4:30 pm.

Petitions are necessary as part of each candidate’s registration for public office, and candidates for political office are reminded that only registered voters may sign their petitions and a voter may sign only one petition for a given office, according to Election Officials in their weekly program on KVZK-TV.

Candidates for the Delegate to the U.S. Congress require 300 signatures of registered voters on their nomination petition. A filing fee of $500 is also required at the time of registration.

So far, five individuals have announced their candidacy for the Congressional Delegate race and they are: Tua’au Kereti Mata’utia Jr., Rosie Fuala’au Tago Lancaster, Meleagi Suitonu-Chapman, former Gov. Togiola Talalelei M. Tulafono and Aumua Amata. There is no word yet on the candidacy of the incumbent, Congressman Faleomavaega Eni.

To be nominated as a candidate for the local House race, the petition must be signed by 25 registered voters of the district from which he or she is seeking election. The signed petition is submitted together with a $300 registration fee to the Election Office. It’s expected that all current House members will seek re-election.

As in past election years, all submitted petitions will be checked and verified by the Election Office to ensure the candidates are qualified to run in accordance with local laws.

Petition signatures are also checked and verified to ensure that policies and regulations are followed in accordance with local election laws (e.g. verification to ensure the signature is that of a registered voter).

In the media statement yesterday, Tuaolo reminded all uniformed services voters or active duty military personnel, and students attending colleges and universities outside of American Samoa, to submit their request for the outside absentee ballot for the general election.

The Outside Absentee Request process began in January this year and an off island registered voter can request the absentee ballot online by going to: www.americansamoaelectionoffice.org.

 It is also recommended to please check on this Election Office website for election updates.

Download and complete the form EO-O8 (Request for an Absentee Ballot). Uniformed Service members and overseas voters — outside of the U.S. and its territories — can also use the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to request an absentee ballot.

Upon completion and certification of your request form, you can submit it by fax (684)699-3574, or email to (asgelect@samoatelco.com). It can also be mailed to:  P.O. Box 3970, Pago Pago, AS 96799.

Oct. 20, 2014 is the last day to request an off island absentee ballot.

Ballots are printed after a waiting period which follows the closure of the time to file candidate papers.